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enewton
Gold Member
 England
549 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 09:09:06 AM
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Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Amazon (not really a country but sounds good), Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, South Africa & Namibia.
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Emma Newton
  
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Malak
Silver Member
Panama
315 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 09:13:17 AM
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Hi,
what do you want to know about South Africa? My husband is from SA so I can fill you in with pretty much anythinhg u'd like to know, it is a great place to visit!! |
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georgiauk
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2605 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 09:17:03 AM
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| Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Malaysia, China & SA ??? |
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enewton
Gold Member
England
549 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 09:19:03 AM
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Doh! didn't mean to hit the enter key!!!
I'd be interested to get any info' from anyone that's travelled to these countries.....
Interesting places to stay or things to see...apart from the Arab studs I will seek out on route of course.
My boyfriend and I leave at the end of July, so not long to go now, just really tying up loose ends now before packing our ruck-sacks.
Now obviously we have spend loads of time reading up on as much as possible, but it's always good to see places from someone recommendations.
I'm gonna really miss my Mare, cat and even my job, never thought I'd ever say that. but the next 12 months will be one long holiday and one hell of an experience before we look to start a family.
Have to admit I'm also scared to death about saftey in some countries (I must stop reading horror stories in the news) and I'm scared of flying, even tho' I've been on 22 flights (just worked that out) in the last 2 years with work.
If anyone has any photos, stories or places to see post them up.
Em.
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Emma Newton
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enewton
Gold Member
England
549 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 09:24:44 AM
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| Anything on South Africa really, we fly into Jo-burg and we will visit Cape Town probably rent a 4X4 and a tour guide so we can see game parks and get around Nambia. Any details on reputable guides would be good. |
Emma Newton
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shanaz
Bronze Member
England
84 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 09:31:45 AM
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| I have been to Perth, Western Australia a few times! |
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ELMHUMBER
Junior Member
England
37 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 11:16:50 AM
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Hi Emma
I have been to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Travelled overland from Thailand down to Singapore so can give you info about transport.
Been all over Thailand from hill tribes in north to beach resorts in south. Bangkok is a must for grand palace, Wat Pho massage centre and complete buzz of the city. You must go to Uluru and the Red Centre in Australia. We used Greyhound coaches to travel up East Coast and hired a van to travel Great Ocean Road from Melbourne towards Adelaide and then up to Grampians.
Everywhere in New Zealand is amazing,used Magic Bus for that trip. Stops off at towns and cities, you can hop on and off.
I felt completely safe in the countries I went too. Just be careful when things seem to good to be true. Got caught out a few times in Thailand but friendly people who just so happened to speak brilliant english. They just so happened to know a good place to visit and hailed a tuk tuk - we ended up in countless jewellery or fabric stores being given the hard sell. Be friendly but stick to your guns and go where you want to go. Taxis are as cheap as tuk tuks in Thailand - the tuk tuk drivers get commission from stores if they bring tourists there. Happened in Chiang Mai too.
Anyway, sorry you got me reminiscing. Feel free to ask any questions. This will be the best thing you ever did!!
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Emz |
Edited by - ELMHUMBER on 21 Jun 2008 11:17:40 AM |
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Baikala
Gold Member
571 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 11:58:08 AM
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I live in Canada, but it's VERY big so I wouldn't be that much help. Vancouver is 3000 miles away from Toronto, Vancouver ISLAND is not much smaller than England, Ontario is SEVEN times larger than England. Great country, friendly people, decent-ish weather,worth a visit.
Have to say that BC and Alberta are much prettier than Ontario (flatter than a flat thing and full to the gunnels with sodding mosquitos) if I was doing the Canada visitor thing I would come in to Toronto and then catch the train across the country, my brother did it and really enjoyed it.
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 12:42:10 PM
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I have been toeight of those , I have been to S.A and funny enough thats our next holiday too ! we plan to fly to Cape town, hire a car then travel up to Plett where my friend lives, doing everything along the way you will be blown away by the scenery, all the countries you have named will be wonderful places to visit, have a fab time trawling through them all |
   
www.dreamfield-arabians.com |
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justine
Gold Member
England
641 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 12:44:17 PM
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Hi, Ive been to Brazil many times for stud visits, this is a must if you visit Brazil.
Sao Paulo is great for shopping, everything is really cheap. Great restaurants, beef and fish is wonderful.
Be careful though. Dont wear expensive jewelry and carry your handbag close, even better tuck money somewhere secret  . There are a hell of a lot of thieves, they carry knives and guns.
If you hire a car check the locking, always keep doors locked whilst driving and if you can help it dont stop at a red light in the cities. Never open door or window to anyone!
You will see on the outskirts of the cities the terrible living conditions of the poor. They live in places made from junk, tin sheets, boxes....Then in the cities you will see wonderful mansions like America. Its quite an eye opener.
Be careful on the beach, dont take valuables. Normally someone from the hotel (if its near the beach) will keep an eye on you and bring you drinks.
Remember sun creme, it can be scorching! Watch for the spiders, scorpians and snakes. In the long grass beware of ticks on your legs.
See the fireflies at night, they are amazing!
When Ive at stayed at Haras Mea Lua (Lenita Perroy) the wild life is unbelievable, something very special. Even swimming in the pool, vultures are circling above watching, gigantic frogs and lizards walk past without a care.
Ive never been into the rain forests but it must be amazing.
Have a great time. |
jbassindale |
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enewton
Gold Member
England
549 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 1:17:38 PM
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We fly into Calgary (alberta) 28th July (missing the Nationals )
We have budgeted to buy and RV there, I have a friend living on Vancover Island (we worked together in Publishing) so we should be able to use her address to register it. That will be our home for 3 months, the length of time we have to get down to Panama. We expect to swallow a 50% loss on it on re-sale to sell quickly.
I've heard about Brazil and it's crime (scarey as hell) we plan to line our ruck-sack with some similar to chicken wire (looking for something lighter, to make them knife/slash proof.
We have a a few contacts through work in some countries but may not get to see them all, but they have warned us about scams, crime, dangers etc.. They have also told us about some great things to do.
I'm looking forward to the Rockies, big grizzly bears and Christmas day BBQing on beach in OZ.
Already done the tearful goodbye to my big sisters and going miss them heaps, my parents get around on their holidays, so should meet up with them somewhere next year. We met up with them in Italy last summer but I don't think it will be so easy the further away we are.
Anyhow a few more vaccinations to go for me and another couple of days of motorbike training before my final test.
Em. x |
Emma Newton
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 1:39:03 PM
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I've done the christmas on the beach in Oz, I just felt very sad not to be at home, nowhere like home at christmas. sounds like you are gonna have a wonderful adventure  |
www.dreamfield-arabians.com |
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Libby Frost
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4711 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 7:09:37 PM
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| New zealand is fantastic my sister lives there been twice my fave country after the UK cos i was born here and i love ole blighty dearly!!! lol Very friendly peoiple who welcomed us at their arab studs, cannot remember many names apart fro Jackie webbi and her Cameo stud..... |
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jaj
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4324 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 8:16:59 PM
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How wonderful Emma it sounds like a fantastic adventure that you are about to embark on! I spent 3 years backpacking around the world and we went to some really dodgy places but came back relatively unscathed. I think you just have to keep your wits about you and use common sense especially in countries with people an awful lot poorer than you.
We went to a tiny area of the Amazon (Peruvian bit) and it was truly amazing try and get there if you can. There is some spectacular jungle in Thailand too, places like Khao Sok national park are absolutely breathtaking. The Cameroon Highlands in Malaysia are lovely to if you fancy some higher altitude jungle.
New Zealand is paradise, I always imagine it is how the earth looked before humans came along and mucked it all up. There is so much to see and do and it's totally different to Australia (which is amazing in its own way). We loved walking the Milford Sound and Abel Tasman track both on the South Island. Mount Cook and that area is spectacular as are parts of the North Island that have lots of volcanic activity, Rotarua well worth a visit and swimming with dolphins and whale watching is unforgettable.
Australia is vast and although we spent almost a year there we only managed to drive around half of it and up the middle! Kakadu is enormous and such a wonderful experience to camp out under the stars. The Whitsundays and islands off the Barrier Reef are like something from a postcard, as is Frazer Island, oh err I'm running out of superlatives to describe everywhere now!
Singapore is ok if you like sterile cities, but tea at Raffles is worth it if you fancy an afternoon away from the heat and shopping!
I loved Mexico, it is full of ancient ruins and jungle (which is definitely my sort of thing although of course all recommendations are subjective by their very nature).
Canada, I've only visited Vancouver and skiied at Lake Louise which was beautiful.
Can't remember where else you mentioned that you plan to visit. Oh I'm envious now it brings back so many memories !
Jen
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Kuraishiya (Maleik el Kheil/Kazra el Saghira) and Sahara Bey (Kuraishiya/WSA Charismma) |
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gossy
Platinum Member
England
3639 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 9:11:45 PM
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| We flew into Calgary and stayed in Banff had a wicked holiday, its beautiful there, Alberta is a gorgeous state. |
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Evie
Platinum Member
England
3513 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 12:16:13 AM
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How lucky, I'd love to be able to afford to take time off work to go travelling!
I'd especially like to go to New Zealand and Egypt. Look forward to hearing about it all when you're back! |
Bristol |
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Alyth Long
Bronze Member
New Zealand
88 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 01:03:37 AM
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| Hi - I live in New Zealand! This is the best country - paradise on earth to me. If you PM me I can give you more information. There are plenty of Arabian studs to visit and people are very friendly, especially in the South Island!! Alyth |
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Arabian Girl
Platinum Member
England
2893 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 02:57:26 AM
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| oh emma what a truely amazin experience,,altho i dont know you is that why you hav that super gorgeous mare to loan for a year??i hope everything works out well for you and i look forward to hearing about your fantastic experiences...best wishes ...Lynne |
   
Posting from Billinge Wigan |
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jaj
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4324 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 08:53:48 AM
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Evie it took us an awful lot of hard work to save up the money to go travelling for 3 years. We both worked in our full time jobs, my OH worked all night too on a fri and sometimes a sat night, we sold everything we had and I mean everything ~ we did car boot sales, we put things in the paper, we sent around lists of stuff to everyone we knew and worked with. We didn't buy a thing for ages, we never went out and I used to go running around to the bank every time we had a bit of money and put it into our account. It was really really hard but we were absolutely determined to 'live our dream' ohh there's another thread on this at the moment!
It also helped that initially we went to predominantely poorer countries where your money goes a lot further. We also camped in places like Africa for months on end ~ we camped all the way around New Zealand and Australia which saves you a ton of money. We cooked all our own food too to save going out (can't really eat in restaurants for 3 years!). My OH worked in Australia for a few months to get more money together and yet we still came back in debt.
Hard work but most definitely worth it. I have to say it has affected the rest of our lives financially too, we went 10yrs ago and of course when we came back we had absolutely nothing. We had to stay with my parents for 2 months and then move down to where my hubby could get a contract to earn us some money to get going again. We couldn't get any credit whatsoever as we had no record for 3yrs (think they thought we had been in prison or something!). We couldn't get a mobile phone or anything on HP or loans etc so took a long long time to get back on our feet again, plus it meant we took out our first mortgage a lot later in life than many of our peers which means we will be paying it off into our nineties I suspect !
Sorry to hijack thread , I would just hate anyone to think that we just happened to fancy swanning off and had a vast fortune lying around to do so with  .
Jen
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Kuraishiya (Maleik el Kheil/Kazra el Saghira) and Sahara Bey (Kuraishiya/WSA Charismma) |
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Arabian Girl
Platinum Member
England
2893 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 10:49:28 AM
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| WOW thats an intrestin point Jen..i would have never thought that , thats the "other side" that goes with travelling on such a large scale, but you must have many amazin experiences that goes with global travelling |
Posting from Billinge Wigan |
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Christine Pollard
Gold Member
England
686 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 1:06:01 PM
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| We bought a vw camper in Toronto. Did U.S and Canada. Found Vancouver very busy, mad drivers! Went down highway 101 all the way to San diego(?). Brilliant campsites all the way down. KOA are more money we only used them when we needed to wash clothes and plug ins. Went in sulphur spas somewhere in Oregan lovely but take jewelry off! Oregan can be quite misty. Did the drive through tree. The scenery is fantastic. Try and do Vegas its amazing and very cheap. Great KOA there. Carmel was a lovely place you may see Clint!!! Go over Golden Gate bridge. I didn't like LA at all. Some great beaches after LA. Get a map in each new state lots of info places there lovely people. Avoid arriving in cities late pull up before and camp overnight and go through in the mornings. That was the best advise we were given and we didn't have any trouble. Enjoy!!!! |
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Songbird
Bronze Member
England
152 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 4:54:23 PM
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I 've been to Brazil twice and am madly in love with it. You must go to Rio . It's really worth the trip up the mountain to see the 'Christ' and see the incredible view of Rio , also take the cable car up the Sugarloaf. There is rainforest around Rio and a jeep trip there is great fun . I came upon a very large and , I'm told , poisonous snake . Our guide ran off screaming ,she was really scared , some guide! Istood there happily videoing , it looked pretty sleepy to me . After all that activity you can just lie down and soak up the sun on Ipanema beach , it's crowded but a great atmosphere. I also cruised down the Amazon and that was a dream I'll never forget . The trips into the rainforest were amazing and there is a festival at one of the villages on the river which is second only to the Rio carnival . Well worth the trip . Have a great time ,it's such a priviledge to be able to travel .
Kit
www.songbirdarabians.co.uk |
Kit Rolfe |
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Evie
Platinum Member
England
3513 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 5:35:37 PM
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Thanks for that post Jen, gives me some ideas! This is one of the reasons I decided to stay here a while longer as I would love to go travelling and know that I can earn and save a lot more money here than I could in the UK. I am hoping to go to South America next year if I am still working here.
Kit - I'd love to go to Rio for carnival - but am scared to go to Brazil on my own, I guess there may be groups that I could join with - must look into this!! |
Bristol |
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enewton
Gold Member
England
549 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 6:42:23 PM
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Thanks for everyone's posts, I'm going write a few things down and add them so our lists of places to see and do.
Christine I'd be interested to know how you bought/registered the camper van, were having trouble doing this, as we want to buy in Calgary but need an address to register it. We are looking into using a friends address but she lives in Vancover so it's proving difficult to do.
Em. |
Emma Newton
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Christine Pollard
Gold Member
England
686 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 7:24:35 PM
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| We stayed with friends in Toronto and bought a mag something similar to Auto trader and looked for RVs. It was a long time ago but I remember that we had to buy no plates and a year sticker that you put on them. Obviously you get the plates where you register so we had Ontario plates. Insurance was a bit fiddly but we managed in the end. The RVs over there are mega but our VW was as tough as nails we did 12000miles in it. Got us through the dessert to Vegas!! OHs brother did the same the year after in it. Petrol is so cheap in US a lot cheaper than Canada. Hope this helps you a bit. |
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jaj
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4324 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 8:25:54 PM
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Evie, start saving! I always say that unlike other material things that we all like to spend our money on, nothing can ever take the experience of travel away from you (apart from dementia or alzheimers I suppose !).
Jen
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Kuraishiya (Maleik el Kheil/Kazra el Saghira) and Sahara Bey (Kuraishiya/WSA Charismma) |
Edited by - jaj on 22 Jun 2008 8:27:45 PM |
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